By Gracious Mugovera

LOCAL dancehall artistes that include Shinsoman, Sniper Storm, King Shady and Winky D superbly closed the Lion Lager Campus Nites sponsored by Delta Beverages.
The Campus Nites that saw performances across the country at universities were not only for promotion of Delta Beverages’ Lion Lager brand, but were also a precursor of the popular annual Lion Lager Beer Festival scheduled for this month.
Beneficiaries of the campus activations included universities of Gweru, Mutare, Chinhoyi, Bulawayo, Masvingo, Bindura and Harare.
Dancehall artistes were a hit during the shows with the ‘Ninja president’ Winky D being the major attraction at these performances.
The finale of the Campus Activations was at the Harare Gardens for the University of Zimbabwe students.
It is sad that man-of-the-moment Shinsoman could not deliver when it mattered the most.
Shinsoman presented with an opportunity to cement his ‘dominance’, delivered a dull act, disappointing thousands of students.
It seems outside the studio the dancehall musician always falls short, indeed a fish out of water he has proved to be.
On many occasions he has been pelted off the stage and at Harare Gardens instead of being showered with praises he instead received beer.
The artiste currently riding high on the charts with the hit song ‘Waya Waya’ apparently is failing to deliver the magic he brews in the studio to a live audience.
Maybe it is time the artiste resorted to using a live band instead of backtracks that are backfiring in nasty ways.
The danger is that continued failure in the live-shows may dent the otherwise talented chanter who has a number of tracks that have done well on the charts and enjoyed by thousands.
Those that have long been in the game did not disappoint.
The ‘General’ Sniper Storm currently doing well with the hit-track Kwarira Mukati drove the students into frenzy.
And as usual King Shaddy and Winky D delivered a well polished act.
This year’s Lion Lager Summer festival will serve Nigerian giant Dapo Daniel Oyebanjo popularly known as D’banj and Bebe Cool (Moses Ssali).
Dubbed the ‘Battle for Africa’ the festival seeks to bring together African talent from west, east and south celebrating the continent’s achievements in the arts industry.
Born in 1980, D’banj, is not only a singer, but also a harmonica player.
The musician has so far won awards that include Best African Act at the HYPERLINK “https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MTV_Europe_Music_Awards_2007”MTV Europe Music Awards 2007, Artist of the Year at the HYPERLINK “https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MTV_Africa_Music_Awards_2009”MTV Africa Music Awards 2009 and HYPERLINK “https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BET_Awards_of_2011”BET Awards of 2011 for Best International Act; Africa.
The artiste is regarded as one of the richest musicians in Africa.
The Lion Lager Summer Beer Festival has become one of the most prominent events on the entertainment calendar.
Delta has so far brought popular Jamaican artistes that include Bennie Man, Cocoa Tea, Fantan Mojah and Nigerian twins P Square.
Delta’s marketing manager Patricia Murambinda said that this year they introduced a voting system in which Zimbabweans voted for the artistes that they wanted for the festival and D’banj and Bebe Cool were the people’s choice.
D’banj, who debuted in 2005 with the album No Long Thing, is more popular for his track ‘Oliver Twist’.
Other popular tracks by the Nigerian superstar include ‘Fall in Love’, ‘Tongolo’, ‘Suddenly’ and ‘Mo Gbono Feli Feli’ among others.
Although D’banj’s name might be popular internationally, he is one artist who became known in Zimbabwe with his track ‘Oliver Twist’ and one cannot help, but wonder if he will be able to impress the local demanding audience that easily gets irritated if it cannot sing along during a live show performance.
It is an open secret that a number of international artistes have failed to impress revellers in the country after failing to deliver songs that the audience can easily identify.
Delivery will be a tall order for Bebe Cool, who is a Ugandan Ragga musician and is virtually unknown in the country.
We wait to see if his singles ‘Fitima’ and ‘Mambo Ningi’ will move the local audience, in a positive way.
High riding Winky D whose ‘Mafirakureva’ is fast becoming an anthem, King Shaddy and Guspy Warrior of the ‘Seunononga’ fame will also perform at the festival.